Joseph Joseph Index Chopping Board Set Review: The Color-Coded System That Actually Earns Its Counter Space
Most multi-board sets are gimmicks — a stack of cheap plastic squares with confusing tabs you stop using after a week. The Joseph Joseph Index set is the rare exception. Four full-sized non-slip boards in a slim upright case, each one tabbed and color-coded so you actually use the right surface for raw meat, fish, vegetables, and cooked food. After years on the market it remains one of the most-bought cutting board sets on Amazon for a reason.
What you're actually buying
The Index set is four polypropylene cutting boards that slide into a slim upright caddy. Each board has a colored, illustrated tab on one corner: red for raw meat, blue for raw fish, green for vegetables, and white for cooked food. The boards have a textured cutting surface on one side, non-slip rubber feet on the corners, and the standard set measures roughly 11.4" x 8.7" — usable for actual prep work, not the postage-stamp boards you sometimes get in "sets."
The case is the part that quietly justifies the price. Instead of stacking boards on top of each other (where the bottom one is unusable until you move three others), the Index case stores them vertically with the tabs sticking up so you can grab the right one and put it back without thinking. It takes up a 3"-deep footprint on the counter and disappears at the back of a deep cabinet just as easily.
All four boards are dishwasher-safe and food-safe polypropylene, the same plastic NSF-rated boards in commercial kitchens are made of.
Performance and real-world use
The cross-contamination story is the real selling point. Every food safety guideline tells you to keep raw chicken away from the salad you're slicing — and the reality is that most home cooks don't, because grabbing a separate board for each task is a hassle. The Index system makes "right board for the right job" the path of least resistance instead of the path of most. After the first week you stop thinking about it.
Cutting performance is what you'd expect from quality polypropylene: easier on knife edges than glass or bamboo, harder than soft plastic boards, no slipping thanks to the rubber feet. Knife marks build up over time — that's true of any plastic board — and the boards will eventually look used. They don't warp or stain badly with reasonable care.
Sizing is the one place where you have to know what you're getting. These are everyday-prep boards, not 18" carving boards. For breaking down a whole chicken, spatchcocking a turkey, or slicing a brisket you'll still want a larger dedicated board. For the 90% of home cooking that's onions, peppers, chicken thighs, and a lemon, they're sized exactly right.
- Color-coded illustrated tabs make cross-contamination control automatic instead of a chore
- Vertical storage caddy is the actual innovation — easy access, small counter footprint
- Full-sized 11.4" x 8.7" usable boards, not the toy-sized squares some "sets" ship with
- Non-slip rubber feet on every corner — no sliding around mid-cut
- Dishwasher-safe polypropylene, knife-friendlier than glass or hard bamboo
- Long-running Amazon best seller with thousands of reviews — known quantity, not a new gamble
- Boards are thinner than premium standalone boards and will show knife marks over time
- Polypropylene plastic is not as forgiving on edges as endgrain wood for daily heavy use
- "White / cooked food" board can stain visibly with tomato or turmeric — bleach soak helps but is annoying
- Caddy footprint is small but still permanent counter real estate if you use it that way
- Not large enough for breaking down whole birds or carving roasts — you'll still want a big wood board for those tasks
Home cooks who care about food safety but won't realistically wash three separate boards mid-prep. People with small kitchens where the vertical storage actually matters. Anyone outfitting a first apartment or upgrading from a single beat-up plastic board to something with a real system around it. Also a strong gift — the kind of thing people are glad to receive but wouldn't buy for themselves.
Serious cooks who already use a dedicated 18" endgrain wood board for almost everything and just need a flexible plastic backup — buy a single OXO or Sani-Tuff board instead and skip the system. People who do a lot of butchery or whole-animal work need bigger surfaces than this set offers. And if you're someone who's never going to remember to use the "right" colored board, the system collapses to four ordinary plastic boards taking up extra space.